Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter, Lexi, was killed within the Could 2022 mass taking pictures at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, Texas, has misplaced the particular election for mayor of the town.
Mata-Rubio ran in opposition to Cody Smith, a former mayor, and Veronica Martinez, an artwork trainer, in a battle over the town authorities’s transparency and response to the horrific assault. Don McLaughlin, Uvalde’s mayor since 2014, introduced earlier this 12 months that he was pursuing a seat within the Texas Home of Representatives. Smith received the election for mayor Tuesday evening.
“I’ll by no means cease preventing for you, Lexi,” Mata-Rubio wrote on X, previously Twitter, on Tuesday evening, shortly after the election was referred to as. “I meant it once I stated this was solely the start. In spite of everything, I’m not a daily mother. I’m Lexi’s mother.”
Uvalde has been divided for the reason that mass taking pictures that killed 19 youngsters and two adults. Mata-Rubio and different dad and mom of victims have been advocating for transparency from the town and from regulation enforcement companies, which remain under criminal investigation after the botched response to the Could 24, 2022, assault by a lone gunman.
Within the 2022 election for Texas governor, greater than 60% of Uvalde residents voted for Republican Greg Abbott. Nonetheless, households of the victims had been important of Abbott after his response to the taking pictures, together with his comment that it “may have been worse.”
Mata-Rubio was amongst Abbott’s most vocal critics through the 2022 gubernatorial election and posted on social media that the state of Texas had despatched her a transparent message.
“My daughter’s homicide wasn’t sufficient,” she posted on Twitter on the time. “Simply know, you fucked with the fallacious mother. It doesn’t finish tonight. I’ll struggle till I’ve nothing left to provide. Lexi’s legacy will likely be change.”
Because the taking pictures, tensions have repeatedly flared between Uvalde group members and native authorities. Throughout a faculty board assembly in October 2022, Uvalde residents criticized Uvalde Consolidated Faculty District Superintendent Hal Harrell for hiring a faculty district officer who was below investigation on the time for her function within the lackadaisical police response to the assault. The officer, Crimson Elizondo, was caught on physique digital camera footage the day of the taking pictures saying, “If my son had been in there, I’d not have been outdoors. I promise you that.”
Mata-Rubio spoke out at the meeting, saying she was “disgusted” by Uvalde residents who supported Harrell.
“How dare you resolve now when a job is at stake to return collectively, however you keep house as we, the households, have been demanding transparency and accountability,” she stated by means of tears. “How dare you assault these of us who misplaced our kids within the worst method attainable.”
Mata-Rubio cited her frustration with native management as one of many causes she determined to run for mayor.
“A stagnant management led to the occasions that unfolded on Could 24, 2022,” Mata-Rubio advised JS in July when she introduced her run for mayor. “The aftermath has fractured our group. I hope to bridge the hole and transfer our group in a constructive course, bringing the 19 youngsters and two academics with me each step of the way in which.”
In a video on her marketing campaign web site, Mata-Rubio stated she needed to spice up Uvalde’s financial system, shield its historical past and tradition, and enhance metropolis providers.
“The tragedy at Robb Elementary will at all times be a part of our story, however we will select how historical past remembers Uvalde — as a small city that banded collectively, overcame and grew to new heights,” she stated.
